William jackson



(No Model.)

W. J AOKSON.

MACHINE FOR ARBANGING GRAGKBRS.

No. 339,656. Patented Apr. 13, 1886.

N. PETER5 PhuiuLilhognpher, wamm tun D Q iliviinn drains Parent @rrrcn \VILLTAM. JAClibON, F ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO JAMES MOCLURG, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR ARRANGING CRACKERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,656, dated April 13, 1886.

Application filed January 5, 1886. Serial X0, 187,728. (No mmleld To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM JACKSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Allegheny, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Machines for Arranging Crackers, &c., of which the following isaspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for arranging crackers, gin ger-snaps, and like articles for packing; and the novelty consists in the peculiar construction and corn bination of parts, substantially as hereinafter I fully set forth, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

The invention is especially designed as an improvement in that class of machines shown in the patent to James McGlurg, No. 326,7 69,

2 dated September 22, 1885; and it has, primarily, for its object to provide means whereby the crackers and like articles are automatically arranged, so that they can be conveniently grasped by the operator for packing;

to provide means whereby the rate at which the crackers are fed to the conveying and arranging devices can be conveniently regulated; and to combine simplicity, strength, and durability of construction with thorough effective ness of operation.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line so a; of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a View of one form of a removable delivery-spout.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures, A designates the frame of the machine, upon which is supported a hopper, B, an inclined conductingspout, G, and a receiving-tray, D, the peculiar construction and arrangement of which I will now proceed to describe. The hopper B is made curved or 5 semicircular in cross-section, and has its rear end preferably closed, as by a wall, b, and said hopper is supported above the bed or table of the frame by means of upright bars B B", arranged at the front and rear ends thereof. The

5 upper and lower ends of these supporting-bars are pivotally connected to lugs b of the hopper, arranged at or near the middle thereof, and to lugs b of the table of the frame, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings.

The rear supporting-bar, B is made in two sections, each of which is provided with a series of apertures, b", which register or coincide and receive a pin, If, and by means of these apertured sect-ions of the rear supportlug-bar the rear end of the hopper can be 616: vated above or brought into the plane of the front discharge end of said hopper, thus providing means for regulating the rate of feed of the crackers or other like articles contained in the said hopper. 6

To properly feed or discharge the crackers, it is necessary that the hopper should be given a slight shaking motion, and in the drawings I have shown my preferred form of mechalr ism for giving the hopper an oscillating or shaking motion; but 1 would have it understood that I do not desire to limit myself to the particular form of devices shown for the purpose hereinbefore mentioned.

G designates a shaft journaled in proper hearings or boxes, 9, secured upon the table or bed of the "frame A, said shalt having a pulley, G, driven by a belt, G from any suitable motor or power, and a crank, h, with which connects a rod or arm, h, and commu- So nicates the motion thereof to the front upright or standard, B, said upright being slotted longitudinally, as at i, and receiving a wrist-pin, z", of the forward end of the connectingrod h. It will be seen that when motion is applied to the pulley G by the belt G the crank-shaft G will rotate in its bearings, and the motion of said shaft will be trans mitted to the front upright, B, and the hopper B by means of the connectingrod h.

The conducting and arranging tube 0 is made cone or funnel shaped--that is to say, it is made larger at its upper rear end than at its lower front end. The conducting-tube is made in two sections, 0 C'Zwhich are detach 5 ably connected together by hooks c or other suitable fastening devices. The upper section, 0, of the casing is pivotally connected at its lower end to the frontend of the vibrating hopper, and the upper end of the section 10C. 0 enters or incloses the lower end of the section 0, to which it is detachably connected.

' ing-tray.

The sections 0 O are made cone-shaped, and the upper end of thesection O has a bent portion, 0, through which the crackers pass on their way to the deliveryspout. The lower end of the section 0 of the spout has a bent, inclined, or angular foot, 0 that rests and moves upon the front end of a curved receiv- The lower section, of the delivery-spout is thus detachably connected to the upper section, and the lower section is made of different sizes and shapes in crosssection to properly arrange and deliver crackers of different designs, a number of these lower sections of the delivery-spoutbeingprovided,which interchangeably connectwith the upper section. made circular, square, elliptical, rectangular, or of other form in cross-scetion to properly arrange crackers of that shape, and they are made of different diameters to receive and deliver crackers of the size to which thelower section is adapted.

The conductingtube is arranged in an inclined position to properly conduct the crackers to the receiving-tray D,which is supported upon the table of the frame A, and the tray is made semicircular or of other form in cross-section to correspond with the shape of the arti cles fed to the tray by the arranging and delivery tube.

The conducting-tube G partakes of the motion of the vibrating hopper, as it is pivotally connected thereto, and the angular foot 0 of the tube slides or moves in the rear end of the receiving-tray, the angular foot also serving to support the delivery-tube in proper position.

The operation of my invention is as follows: A section, 0*, of the conducting and arranging tube of the proper shape and size in crosssection corresponding to the shape and size of the crackers to be arranged, is connected to the section 0 of the said tube, and the crackers are placed in the vibrating hopper in a heap by hand or poured upon abox or other like receptacle. Motion is now communicated to the crank-shaft to reciprocate the hopper, and the crackers are thus forced into the tube, care being taken to feed them slowly at first. The first crackers that pass into the conducting-tube will lodge in the lower bent end thereof, which corresponds in shape and size to the crackers, and the crackers that are suc' cessively fed to the tube will lodge against the crackers that are first stopped in the tube and against one another. As the motions of the hopper still continue,the crackers are fed into the tube, and the superimposed weight of the crackers at the upper end of the tube on the crackers that first entered the tube, and which are held at the lower end thereof, will cause the crackers at the lower end to assume an upright or approximately vertical position, in order to enable them to pass through the angular foot of the section (3 and into the tray. The crackers are thus automatically arranged in an upright or approximately vertical. posi- The lower section maybe tion and pass into the receiving-tray in that position, from whence they are removed at the open end, the crackers being arranged so that they can be easily and readily grasped and removed by thehand of the operator for packing them in boxes or other receptacles.

details of construction and form and proportion of parts herein shown and described as an embodiment of my invention, as I am aware that many changes therein may be made without departing from the principle of my invention.

The receiving-tray D is preferably made circularin cross-section, and provided with a longi-tudinal slot, (1, at the upper portion of its periphery, so that the operator can insert his thumb or fingersin the slot to move the crackers forward and out upon a flat table.

A number or series of hoppers, together with their conducting-tubes and receivingtrays, may be provided, as is obvious.

I am aware that it is not new to provide a machine for drying grain, which comprises a frame, threaded rods having adjustable nuts supported and adjustable in the frame, a heated pan to which the grain is fed to be dried, and pivoted links intermediate of the pan and rods for adjustably suspending the same, and I do not claim such devices.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is-

1. In a machine for arranging crackers and like articles for packing, the combination of a supporting-frame, a vibrating hopper mounted thereon and movable throughout its entire area, a movable conducting and arranging tube connected to the hopper to receive the crackers therefrom, and a receiving-tray arranged in juxtaposition to the free end of the conducting-tube, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for arranging crackers and like articles for packing, the combination of a supporting-frame, a vibrating hopper supported thereon, a conducting-tube connected to the hopper and partaking of the motion thereof, and a tray for receiving the crackers and the like from the tube, substantially as described.

' 3. In a machine for arranging crackers and like articles for packing, the combination of a frame, a vibrating hopper mounted thereon, a conducting-tube connected to and partaking of the motion of the hopper,and provided with a section having a shape in cross-section corresponding to the shape of the crackers passing through the same, and a receiving-tray, substantially as described.

4. In a machine for arranging crackers and like articles for packing, the combination of the following elements, namely: a supportingframe, a vibrating hopper mounted thereon, suitable mechanism for actuating said hopper, an inclined conical conducting-tube pivotally connected to the hopper, a tubesection of proper form connected to one end of the con I do not desire to limit myself to the exact lIlC access a ducting-tube, and a suitable tray in communication with the tube-section, Substantially as described.

5. In a machine for arranging crackers and like articles for packing, the combination of a frame, a vibrating hopper mounted thereon and adjustable vertically at one end to vary the inclination thereof, a conductingtube pivotally connected to the hopper, and a re ceivingtray, substantially as described.

6. In a machine for arranging crackers and like articles for packing, the combination of a frame, a longitudinally vibrating hopper, supporting-uprights for the hopper pivotally connected thereto and to the frame, the rear upright being Vertically adjustable to vary the inclination of the hopper, a conductingtube connected to and partaking of the motion of the hopper, and a receiving-tray, substantially as described.

7. In a machine for arranging crackers and like articles for packing, the combination of the following elements, namely: a main supporting-frame, a vibrating hopper, uprights pivotally connected to the hopper and frame.

a crank-shaft having a pulley and belt, a rod connecting the crank-shaft with one of the hopper-srmportine; uprights, a conical conducting-tube pivotally connected to the hopper and having an angular dischargefoot, and a receivingtray in communication with the tube, all arranged and combined substantial- 1y as described.

8. The combination of a vibrating hopper, a receivingtray, and a sectional conductingtnbe, substantially as described.

9. The combination of a movable hopper, a receiving-trill y, and a sectional conducting and arranging tube, the lower section of said tube being detachahly connected to the upper section and interchangeable with lower tubesections of different sizes or shapes, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aiiixed my signature in presence oftwo witnesses.

WILLIAM J AGKSON XVitnesses:

R. E. MoGLURn, WM. BLAKELEY. 

